New to the forum. I will take possession of a 2013 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie 5.7, with a 6 speed and 3.55 rear end in a couple of days. It has 59,000 miles on it.

Is there any basic maintenance actions/parts that should be replaced or addressed at this mileage point?

This is my first Dodge pickup, so any any practical experience and advice would be appreciated.

dh

 

Read the maintenance schedule found in the owners manual for recommended maintenance tasks and intervals. If you don't have proof that they have been done, then do them. For the hemi, spark plugs are every 30,000 miles. Oil changes are determined by the oil life indicator system. If you dont have an owners manual, one can be downloaded for free from the Ram website. Welcome to the forum.

 

Thanks for the reply. As far as the spark plugs go, I have read this forum that some use the iridium NGK plugs over the copper OEM version. Other than the 100,000 change interval the iridium plugs claim, is there any performance increase over the copper plugs>
dh

 

No. Longevity is the only advantage the rare-earth plugs offer, however, in some cases, the dodge motors just don't like 'em, and you get the 'mystery miss'....... Just stick with good copper plugs.

 

Yes, stick with copper.

 

I think 2013 is when they went to the 100k mi plugs, check the owners manual. I would also inspect the trans fluid just in case the previous owner did any heavy towing. On my previous truck, '09 with the same trans, it would run hot when towing due to the crappy spacing between the gears. The damn torque converter spent a lot of time unlocked trying to make up for the ****ty gearing. My 2017 with the 8 speed has never gotten to more than 185 even when towing up long steep grades.

 

Owners manual states 30,000 miles for the 5.7 in 2013.

 

you are right

 

Good deal. I already ordered the copper spark plugs. The more I read about changing plugs and oil in these 5.7 Hemi motors, the less enthused I am. Hopefully, it is not as frustrating as folks make it out to be.

dh

 

Would a simple drain and fill of the transmission suffice or is a filter replacement warranted as well. I sold my 30 foot camper so the heaviest thing I will be towing is a 3200 lb boat. Hopefully, it can handle towing a boat without burning up the transmission.

dh